This will be painful for many of you, so do yourselves a favor and skip to
the next thread now.
Really, I mean it.
Still here? Alright then, here I go -- but don't say I didn't warn you...
Eric S. Raymond casts a long shadow in the world of open source software. He
is also an advocate for libertarian politics who espouses views that I think
most DJML subscribers will find challenging.
He has written a blog entry describing the decay of literary, musical and
visual art, of which the first paragraphs read:
"There are entire genres of art that have self-destructed in the last
hundred years - become drained of vitality, driven their audiences
away to the point where they become nothing more than museum exhibits
or hobby-horses for snobs and antiquarians.
"The three most obvious examples are painting, the literary novel and
classical music. After about 1910 all three of these art forms
determinedly severed the connections with popular culture that had
made them relevant over the previous 250 years. Their departure left
vacuums to be filled; we got modern genre literature, rock music, and
art photography."
As my subject line suggests, he makes a partial exception for jazz. You can
read his analysis here: http://esr.ibiblio.org/index.php?p=157&c=1
-- Paul Edgerton